His smile, growing. Almost begging her to do it.
She could shoot him right here. He'd deserve it. He was an animal who needed to be put down after what he did.
She thought of the faces of all those dead women. Her eyes burned.
"You son of a bitch," she said.
"Do it, if you must, my love," he said.
Her hands shook. Behind her, Ken said, "Lyons, it's over."
"It's not over!" Nicky shouted. "People like him deserve to die!"
When she looked down at him, she didn’t see Roy anymore.
She saw the man. The one who’d taken her and Rosie.
The amount of times Nicky had dreamed of killing that man. Of making him pay. Of taking away all his power. Of getting revenge for what he’d done to Rosie.
She could do it right here. Shoot this bastard. Put him down.
"I know," Ken said, "but we need to do this by the books."
Ken’s sensible voice bled through. Nicky took a moment. She opened her eyes and looked down at Roy, really looked.
He was not her captor, or Rosie’s. He was just some other sick bastard. Did he deserve to die? Yes. But Nicky was a federal agent. She did things by the books.
"He doesn't get the easy way out," Ken said. "He's gonna rot in jail for the rest of his miserable existence."
"That's right," Nicky said. She realized then that would be a worse punishment than death for him. "He'll never get married again."
Roy's eyes glossed over. "No! Just kill me! Kill me!"
"No." Nicky lowered the weapon. Ken came over and kicked Roy to the ground, slapping cuffs on his wrists. Nicky stood over him with her arms crossed.
It was over.
He was caught.
***
Nicky and Ken dragged Roy upstairs, into the parking lot, greeted by the night, just as the police were arriving. The night sky was ablaze with red and blue light. Police sirens wailed in the distance.
By Roy's car, Meghan and Lauren were alive, with blankets over their shoulders, being comforted and questioned by a female officer. Nicky let out a breath of relief. But still. None of it felt real. Was it really all over?
"You okay?" Ken asked.
"It's over," Nicky said. "Thank God. For once, everything's okay."
But there was more to do. A few FBI agents next to a black car spotted them, and Ken brought Roy over to them, shoving him into their custody. Roy stole one last look at Nicky before he was shoved in the back of the car.
Good riddance.
Nicky went over to Meghan and Lauren--and Meghan instantly threw herself at Nicky, hugging her tight.
"You saved my life!" she cried.
Nicky’s heart swelled. She wasn’t much of a hugger, but she hugged Meghan back, so grateful that this hadn’t ended the way it did with Masie.